Say the Texans or a trade partner doesn't take Louis Nix to start the second round of the NFL draft Friday afternoon.

The nose tackle may fall far from there, and the Chargers may look to benefit.

Between the Texans at 33 and the Chargers at 57, it's not a great market for "3-4" nose tackles like Nix. Aong with the Titans at 42, the Steelers may be a candidate at 46 after feeling the loss of longtime mainstay Casey Hampton.

Many other teams run a 4-3, and teams with a 3-4 design, like the Falcons, Ravens, Jets and Dolphins, at 37, 48, 49 and50, are invested at nose tackle.

This draft's top two nose tackles, Nix and Timmy Jernigan, went undrafted Thursday. And that may have owed in part to NFL nose tackles playing fewer snaps, in general, because defenses are swapping in faster players to chase quarterbacks and pass-catchers.

"It has changed over the years," Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It has become more passing, more sub-package defenses. It has increased because of the change offensively. It doesn't change the way we evaluate. In a 3-4 defense, you are still going to start with a nose tackle."

The Patriots may seek a 3-4 nose tackle to groom behind Vince Wilfork, who is 32 and coming off a season-ending injury. But on Thursday, Bill Belichick spent the 29th pick on a lighter, faster lineman in end-tackle Dominique Easley, 6-foot-1 1/2 and 288 pounds. He's recovering from his second ACL tear in 22 months.